Music interventions are used for stress reduction in a variety of settings because of the positive effects of music listening on both physiological arousal (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, and hormonal levels) and psychological stress experiences (e.g., restlessness, anxiety, and nervousness). To summarize the growing body of empirical research, two multilevel meta-analyses of 104 RCTs, containing 327 effect sizes and 9,617 participants, were performed to assess the strength of the effects of music interventions on both physiological and psychological stress-related outcomes, and to test the potential moderators of the intervention effects. Results showed that music interventions had an overall significant effect on stress reduction in both physiological (d = .380) and psychological (d = .545) outcomes. Further, moderator analyses showed that the type of outcome assessment moderated the effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes. Larger effects were found on heart rate (d = .456), compared to blood pressure (d = .343) and hormone levels (d = .349). Implications for stress-reducing music interventions are discussed.
Non-formal music education is the field of music education outside the regular school curriculum, and delivered by music teachers / music leaders other than the teacher in the classroom. The main body of this research consists of case studies in the Netherlands. In addition there is a number of case studies in other European countries.
De wereld van de klassieke muziek verandert snel. We worden geconfronteerd met spannende uitdagingen en vragen, zoals de ontwikkeling van innovatieve concertsettings of het creëren van nieuwe publieksbetrokkenheid. De onderzoeksactiviteiten, welke bestaat uit desk research, een vragenlijst en gesprekken met stakeholders, maken deel uit van een onderzoeksnetwerk onder leiding van de Performer and Audience Research Centre (SPARC) van de University of Sheffield en het Maastricht Centre for the Innovation in Classical Music (MCICM). Met deze onderzoeksactiviteiten in Noord-Nederland en die vergelijkbaar in andere regio's van het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Oostenrijk hoopt het netwerk gesprek op gang te brengen over wat klassieke muziek momenteel omvat en wat het zou kunnen zijn in de diverse lokale contexten.
